Catching Up

It has been a long time since I updated my news. It is now May and I have been spending a lot of time sailing. I am trying to go at least once each weekend - weather permitting. The boat is working out well, and I am very pleased that I have kept it at Mears Marina (http://www.mearsannapolis.com/) in Annapolis.

This picture is of me sailing and watching the Volvo Round the World yachts when they were visiting Baltimore and Annapolis. I went out to see them twice, the first time was The Bay race a couple of friends Giles and Olivia came, and Giles took these great pictures of the Volvos.

The next week I went with a bunch of friends to see the start of the Annapolis to New York leg of the race. The wind shifted at the start, so the yachts ended up having to sail through the spectator fleet -which was great to watch. Unfortunately my photos are not that great.

The week before was very busy with Simon and Ruth's wedding. My parents had been visiting the previous week (and yes I had gone sailing), and then Roger and Sandrine came to stay. It was really great fun having them visiting, and the wedding was a blast. We had gone shooting for Simon's bachelor party out in the Virginia countryside, followed by a really great dinner in DC. (And then early to bed as it was school night.

What a motley crew. There were some very good shots - although I cannot claim to one of them. One of the guns was quite cool - a carbon fibre recoiless shot gun.

After Roger and Sandrine left I had my place to myself. The following Thursday, I went to the 100th anniversary Gala of the American Jewish Committee. It was really incredible, the President spoke, as did Angela Merkel of Germany and Kofi Anan of the UN. Although I am not, what you would call a fan of Bush, he did make a good speech which included a strong denunciation of the genocide in Darfur. As did Merkel. Anan's speech however was very limp and disappointing.

The other exciting news I have is that Isabel and Simon, and most importantly my Goddaughter Georgia came to visit. They stayed with Amanda and Jonathan, but I was able to spend quite a bit of time with them. And I got to take Georgia to Peacock Cafe, one of my favourite restaurants.

Keep visiting for more news. Mark